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Some Americans think that college basketball's brokers should share their wealth with the players

NCAA UConn Final Four_Murr.jpg

NCAA men's basketball, whose season will culminate on Saturday and Sunday with the Final Four down in Texas, amounts to some seriously big business. And that inspires the question: Should those who make it happen, the players, share even more profoundly in the wealth? If you'd been polled, how would you have answered?
(Eric Gay | The Associated Press)

Go ahead, then, and do that. And then consider how you might have voted if you'd been contacted.

With the Final Four approaching, just 42 percent of Americans say college athletes should be paid. However, when they learn the NCAA makes over $700 million a year from the television broadcast rights to the NCAA basketball tournament, 50 percent of Americans tell the Reason-Rupe poll that college basketball players should receive a share of the television revenue. And 64 percent of Americans say college athletes should receive some of the revenue when their jerseys are sold or likenesses are used in video games or on merchandise.

The Reason-Rupe national poll conducted live interviews with 1,003 Americans on mobile (503) and landline (500) phones from March 26-30, 2014. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percent. Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which also conducts the Pew polls, executed the nationwide Reason-Rupe survey.

Here are the questions and results:

-- Should college basketball players be allowed to receive a portion of the revenues generated from NCAA tournaments or should that not be allowed?

Should not be allowed: 50%
Should be allowed: 42%
Don't know: 7%
Refused: 1%
Total: 100%

-- Now consider that the NCAA receives over $700 million every year from the television networks broadcasting the NCAA tournament games. In general, college basketball players receive scholarships, which pay for tuition, room and board. Would you say the basketball players in the NCAA tournament should . . .

Receive a small portion of the television revenue generated by their games: 38%
Receive a large portion of the television revenue generated by their games: 12%
(38%+12%=50% who say the athletes should receive some portion)
Receive only a scholarship: 47%
Don't know: 2%
Refused: 1%
Total: 100%

-- When a college or company sells a jersey with a college football or basketball player's number on it, or sells a video game with a player's likeness in it, do you think that player should receive some of the money from the sale of his likeness or jersey, or should that not be allowed?

Should be allowed: 64%
Should not be allowed: 32%
Don't know: 4%
Refused: 1%
Total: 100%

Coming Monday morning at 7 a.m.: My plan is to provide a report on Sunday's game at NBT Bank Stadium between the Syracuse Chiefs and the Scranton-Wilkes/Barre Railriders. Later Monday afternoon at 2 p.m.: The readers write, and I post.